Read Never Let Go for Free Online Page B

old jokebetween them. Her mother was a great believer in astrology. “I don’t blame you, Mom. I could have held out for another couple of weeks and altered my chart.”
    “If you had, your daddy might never have forgiven you. I was mean as could be those last few weeks as it was. It was hotter than blazes here and I was so swollen up I could hardly move. I was darn glad you came early.” There was a brief silence, then her mother said softly, “What’s really on your mind, Mallory?”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    “Don’t try to kid a kidder, girl. You never were any good at it. You’re upset about something or you wouldn’t be calling here at this hour on a weeknight.”
    Mallory groaned. “I never should have gotten into the habit of only calling home on Saturday morning. Now you’ll think any other time I call, there’s a crisis.”
    “Is there a crisis?” her mother persisted, then asked more gently, “Or are you just missing Alan?”
    “Maybe that’s it,” Mallory said, seizing on the possibility as a way to make sense of her tangled feelings. Maybe this sense of confusion, this overwhelming attraction, was nothing more than loneliness.
    “Maybe? You’re a psychologist. Can’t you figure out what’s going on in your own head?”
    “It’s a whole lot easier to figure out what’s going on in someone else’s, and it is definitely easier to give advice than it is to take it.”
    “Have you been giving yourself some advice and ignoring it?”
    “Something like that.”
    “Mind a little from me?”
    “You don’t even know what the issues are.”
    “Doesn’t matter. I know you. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders. You’re loaded with common sense and sensitivity. It’s a wonderful combination. Trust your instincts.”
    “Thanks, Mom. Maybe you shouldbe the psychologist,” she said, feeling better somehow, though nothing had really changed. “I’ll talk to you on Saturday.”
    Once she’d hung up, Mallory thought about her mother’s advice to trust her instincts. The only problem was her instincts seemed to be all twisted up with her hormones this time, which left her right back where she’d started: wondering what to do.
    What she intended to do, she decided at 4:00 a.m. after hours of restless tossing and turning, was to put a lid on her emotions. Rational thought protested valiantly that people did not fall in love in a couple of weeks, that it took longer to choose appropriately. She was definitely lonely. Other than Rachel she hadn’t made any real friends yet. It was natural enough to feel a bond with a man who cared for Davey as she did. It would be crazy to think it was anything more. Thus satisfied that she had the whole thing in proper perspective, she slept soundly and dreamlessly.
    Everything might have resolved itself exactly as she’d planned, if she hadn’t run into Justin in the park on Saturday. Literally. The impact knocked the wind out of her and put her in his arms when he tried to steady her. Then she realized exactly who the lout was who’d come around the curve on the wrong side of the jogging path. She jumped away so quickly that she stumbled and found herself right back in his strong embrace.
    “We have to stop meetinglike this,” he said dryly, and to Mallory’s amazement she found there was a twinkle in his eyes as he pointedly reminded her of the last time they’d seen each other. He seemed to have gone out of his way to avoid her since that night in Davey’s room when they’d kissed, and she was surprised to find him so completely at ease with her now. The fact that he seemed to be joking nonchalantly about an incident that had left her breathless with wonder was enough to rile her all over again.
    Not to be outdone by his casual attitude, she searched for and found an equally light tone. “Have you thought of wearing a bell?”
    His expression grave, he seemed to consider the idea. “I suppose that might work here,